1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to the removal of unsolicited e-mail messages, commonly known as SPAM, from a client's e-mail.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
E-mail has become a very important means of communications. Unfortunately, unsolicited e-mail messages, commonly referred to as SPAM, is cluttering this communications channel. This unsolicited e-mail wastes time, storage space, and communications bandwidth. This translates into lost productivity and increased computing and communication costs. Some of these unsolicited messages are also offensive. They are clearly directed at an adult audience; unfortunately, there is nothing to protect minors from receiving this material.
One approaches to this problem involves setting up keyword filters in a browser to detect messages with works such as “porn” or “sex.” This defense is easily defeated by using variation such as “***PORN****” or “_Sex_”.
Another approach to this problem involves setting up filters in the browser to block messages from the return address of the unsolicited e-mail. This defense is not effective since the SPAMer usually use a false return address.
Another approach would be to compare each incoming message again a set of unsolicited e-mail messages. Unfortunately, this is quite computationally expensive.